Mounting Guard Ring

ABSTRACT

A mounting guard ring for a sealing ring with at least one sealing lip, surrounding a sleeve-shaped protective ring with a supporting surface for the sealing lip disposed at the outer periphery and a holding device shaped as a grip, the protective ring being provided in at least one peripheral region with a first predetermined breaking site and being capable of being severed along the first predetermined breaking site by pulling on the holding device, the protective ring being closed off in sealing manner by a disk-shaped lid.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 12/631,942,filed Dec. 7, 2009, which is a divisional of application Ser. No.10/915,764, filed Oct. 15, 2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,651,102), which isa continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/850,037, filed May 20,2004 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,284,759), which claims the benefit of GermanPatent Application No. 103 25 254.1-12, filed Jun. 3, 2003. Thedisclosures of the above applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a mounting guard ring.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mounting guard rings are known, for example, from DE 38 38 760. Inessence, a mounting guard ring consist of a plastic protective ringwhich, on its outer periphery, has a supporting surface for the sealinglip of a sealing ring. The sealing ring is pushed onto the supportingsurface.

Mounting guard rings are used for the storage and transportation ofsealing rings, particularly sealing rings with PTFE sealing lips,because without being subjected to pressure such rings have a tendencyto undergo elastic recovery as a result of a memory effect.

Moreover, mounting guard rings are used in the mounting of sealing ringsonto a shaft. During the mounting of the sealing ring onto a shaft, theprotective ring of the mounting guard ring protects the sealing lip ofthe sealing ring from damage by sharp-edged transition regions orsharp-edged profiles as, for example, multi-tooth or grooved wedgeprofiles. When passing over sharp-edged transition regions or profiles,the sealing lips of sealing rings can be damaged which would causeimmediate leakage or a reduction in service life of the sealing ring.After the mounting of the sealing ring, the mounting guard ring ismanually removed axially from the shaft.

Units consisting of a sealing ring and a mounting guard ring are oftenpre-mounted in a housing. Prior-art mounting guard rings, however, havethe drawback that dirt or paint dust can penetrate into the housingthrough the opening of the mounting guard ring so that the housingbecomes filled with a lubricant or preservative agent that cannot betransported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above drawbacks of the prior art mounting guard rings, anobject of the invention is to further develop a mounting guard ring in amanner such that no dirt can penetrate from the outside into a housingopening with a pre-mounted unit of sealing ring and mounting guard ringand that the pre-mounted housing can be filled with a lubricant orpreservative agent and transported.

The above objective is reached by closing the protective ring in asealing manner with a disk-shaped lid.

The lid of the mounting guard ring seals the housing from itssurroundings. In this manner, contaminants such as paint dust are keptout of the inside of the housing, so that the housing can be filled witha lubricant or preservative agent, even before mounting. The lubricantor preservative agent is kept in the housing by the lid.

In one embodiment of the invention, the holding device can be fastenedto the protective ring essentially coaxially and in a sealing manner.According to this embodiment, the holding device can be designed as alid capable of closing the opening of the seal.

In an advantageous embodiment, the holding device is connected with theprotective ring by a joint. The joint connects the holding device to theprotective ring to prevent the holding device from being lost.

In another embodiment, the holding device is disposed to be able toswivel around the joint. As a result of the swivelable arrangement, theholding device can be moved out of the way when the mounting guard ringmust be removed from the protective ring.

The joint is preferably configured as an integral hinge and consist of apolymeric material. Integral hinges are easy to produce and inexpensive.

The protective ring preferably consists of a polymeric material.Polymeric materials are easy to process and inexpensive.

The holding ring preferably consists of a polymeric material.

In an advantageous embodiment, the joint, the protective ring, and theholding device form a single unit made of the same material. As a resultof the single-unit, one-material design, the mounting guard ring can beproduced in a single processing step.

In another embodiment, a statically stressed, separately fabricated sealis disposed in a sealing manner between the lid and the protective ring.The separate seal seals the gap between the protective ring and the lid.

In yet another embodiment, the lid consists of an elastomeric sealingmaterial. In this embodiment, the gap between the protective ring andthe lid is sealed by the elastic lid.

In still another embodiment, the holding device and the lid are made asa single unit, of the same material, and are fastened to each other viaa predetermined breaking site. In this embodiment, the holding deviceand the lid are tightly connected to each other.

The mounting guard ring and the sealing ring can be combined in a singlesealing arrangement. In this case, the sealing lip of the sealing ringsurrounds the supporting surface of the mounting guard ring. The sealinglip is thus protected and kept under tension during transportation.

Preferably, the mounting guard ring and the sealing ring form apremountable unit. In this manner, the sealing ring is protected fromdamage during mounting.

Particularly preferred is a premountable unit that can be pressed intothe housing opening to be sealed. In premounted housings, the housing isclosed by the lid of the mounting guard ring.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows, in longitudinal cross-section, a mounting guard ring of aone-piece design according to a principle of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a mounting guard ring with a swiveled-out holding deviceaccording to a principle of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows the mounting of a shaft;

FIG. 4 shows, in longitudinal cross-section, a mounting guard ring ofone-piece design with an additional sealing body according to aprinciple of the present invention;

FIG. 5 shows a mounting guard ring of one-piece design with a secondpredetermined breaking site at the transition from the mounting guardring to the lid according to a principle of the present invention;

FIG. 6 shows a mounting guard ring of one-piece design with anadditional holding device according to a principle of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 shows, in longitudinal cross-section, a mounting guard ring of atwo-piece design according to a principle of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 shows, longitudinal cross-section, a mounting guard ringaccording to a principle of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention,its application, or uses.

FIG. 1 shows a mounting guard ring 1 with a tubular protective ring 2.The outer periphery of the protective ring 2 forms a supporting surface18 for a sealing lip 24 of a sealing ring 19 and an axial stop 3. Theprotective ring 2 and lid 6 are connected to each other by means of anintegral hinge 9 to form a single piece made of the same material.

The protective ring 2 and lid 6 also have a static sealing region 10.The sealing region 10 of the protective ring 2 and lid 6 has a congruentwavy shape. The lid 6 forms a holding device 4. A first predeterminedbreaking site 11 is provided along the protective ring 2 and the axialstop 3. The mounting guard ring 1 and sealing ring 19 constitute apremountable unit 25.

FIG. 2 shows a mounting guard ring 1 with a holding device 4 swiveledaway from the protective ring 2. The lid 6 and holding device 4 are madeof the same material, in one piece, and are connected to the protectivering 2 by an integral hinge 9. Along the protective ring 2, offset by90.degree. relative to the integral hinge 9, is axially provided a firstpredetermined breaking site 11. Radially opposite the firstpredetermined breaking site 11 is provided a joint 21. The tensilestrength of the first pre-determined breaking site 11 is less than thetensile strength of integral hinge 9 and joint 21.

FIG. 3 shows a mounting guard ring for a shaft 20. A unit 25 thatconsists of the sealing ring 19 and the mounting guard ring 1 is mountedin a housing opening 22 provided for this purpose. Before the shaft 20is mounted, the lid 6 is swiveled away from protective ring 2. After thesharp-edged region 23 of shaft 20, in this drawing a multi-toothed part,is passed through the opening of protective ring 2, the mounting guardring 1 is axially removed from the sealing ring 19 over the holdingdevice 4. By pulling on the holding device 4, the mounting guard ring 1breaks off along the first predetermined breaking site 11 and can bebent over the joint 21. The mounting guard ring 1 can then be removed,although the mounting guard ring 1 cannot be axially moved over theshaft 20.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment according to FIG. 2 in which a seal betweenthe mounting guard ring 1 and lid 6 is provided by a sealing body 12.The sealing body 12, in this case an O-ring, is disposed in anall-around groove 13 of the lid 6.

FIG. 5 shows another mounting guard ring 1 according to the presentinvention. At the front side of the mounting guard ring 1 is provided alid 6 that forms a single unit with, and made of the same material as,the protective ring 2. The lid 6 is limited by a circular secondpredetermined breaking site 14, and by an integral hinge 9. By pullingon a grip 8 that is fastened to the lid 6, the second predeterminedbreaking site 14 is broken, and the lid 6 is swiveled away from theprotective ring 2 by the integral hinge 9. The grip 8 serves, at thesame time, as a holding device for removing the mounting guard ring 1after the sealing ring 19 has been mounted.

FIG. 6 shows, on one front end of the protective ring 2, a mountingguard ring 1 with a lid 6 that is made of the same material and as asingle unit. On the other front end of the protective ring 2, is aholding device 4 that is made of the same material and as a single unit.Before the sealing ring 19 is mounted, the holding device 4, which withthe aid of the integral hinge 9 is capable of swinging upward, isstopped in the mounting guard ring 1 by a snap connection 16. At thetransition from the protective ring 2 to the lid 6 is disposed acircular second predetermined breaking site 14. By pulling on a grip 17,the lid 6 is removed completely from the mounting guard ring 1.

FIG. 7 shows a mounting guard ring 1 with a tubular protective ring 2.An outer periphery of the tubular protective ring 2 forms a supportingsurface 18 for a sealing ring 19 with an axial stop 3. At or on theaxial stop 3 is provided a holding device 4 whereby the mounting guardring 1 can be removed after the sealing ring 19 has been mounted. At oron the inner periphery of protective ring 2 is provided an all-aroundprojection 5. Behind the projection 5, the lid 6 snaps into anall-around recess 7 in the mounting guard ring 1. Alternatively, the lid6 may include the all-around recess 7 that snaps into the mounting guardring 1. A grip 8 is provided on the lid 6 for removing the lid 6.Furthermore, the mounting guard ring 1 and sealing ring 19 may form apremountable unit 25.

FIG. 8 shows a mounting guard ring 1 with a tubular protective ring 2.The outer periphery of the tubular protective ring 2 forms a supportingsurface 18 for a sealing lip 24 of a sealing ring 19. The tubularprotective ring 2 also includes an axial stop 3 for the sealing ring 19.By means of an integral hinge 9, the protective ring 2 and holdingdevice 4 are connected to each other so as to form a single piece madeof the same material. A lid 6 with a grip 8 is disposed in a recess 28on the front side 29 of protective ring 2. A snap-on connection 16 ofthe holding device 4 presses the lid against protective ring 2 in asealing manner. Along the protective ring 2 and axial stop 3 is axiallyprovided a first predetermined breaking site 11. Further, the mountingguard ring 1 and sealing ring 19 may form a premountable unit 25.

The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention areintended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations arenot to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A mounting guard ring for inserting a seal into a space to be sealed,comprising: a tubular protective ring defining a recess; a lid disposedin said recess of said protective ring; a sealing ring including theseal supported by said protective ring; wherein said protective ring isprovided with a predetermined breaking site that enables said protectivering to be detached from said sealing ring after said sealing ring isinserted into the space to be sealed; and wherein said protective ringincludes an annular projection extending radially inward toward an axisof said protective ring that mates with said lid to secure said lid tosaid protective ring.
 2. The mounting guard ring of claim 1, furthercomprising a holding device connected to said protective ring.
 3. Themounting guard ring according to claim 1, wherein said lid furthercomprises a handle.
 4. The mounting guard ring according to claim 1,wherein said protective ring and said sealing ring form a premountableunit.